WOWZER Tweakie, I don't often drool over organic art but I think I feel a new machine in the near future.  How fast does the Machine NEED to be to be effective with Laser cutting.

Got any Plans or info on the laser part. No problem on the machine build but that last thing I played with light wise was a flashlight.

Do you use mirrors or perhaps a fiberoptic system?  Spill the beans (;-)

Hey Sam, our buddy Dave has already guessed it - I used the new Dyson wheels.  

Terry, Its all done with mirrors    If your main aim was, for example, raster graphics then the faster the machine (and lower the mass of all moving parts) the better but for vector work, which is my requirement, then the machine can be just as slow as it turns out.

The first little bikes shown were cut too quickly at too much power and the acrylic overheated (boiled possibly) and they had a bad surface finish. Doing them again (lower power, slower feed) produced much better results (these ones are about 20mm long) and this was the original traffic sign artwork.

Tweakie.

I came across this neat little program last week - It is just so simple I had to make some little boxes. My congratulations Rahul.

http://rahulbotics.com/personal-projects/boxmaker/

Tweakie.

This little bike is very different from the others – It is edible, which means that I get to eat anything I make (after it has been photographed). 

Inspired by the Candy Fab project http://candyfab.org/ this 15mm long bike has not been cut-out, it has been laser printed using sugar.
OK this is just my first attempt and it is perhaps not that brilliant, but it is early days yet and many obstacles have still to be overcome - not least, getting sufficient air pressure to keep the vaporized material off my focus lens without blowing everything else away. There are, of course, many other fusible materials with a much smaller grain structure than cane sugar which may well produce much better results so there is a lot of room for experimentation here. (I have just discovered how fine the particles of laser toner are, having just blown a teaspoon full all over my machine table).   

If I can get a grip on this and overcome the obstacles then 3D printing here we come (perhaps). 

Tweakie.

Awesome (again). Kinda reminds me of the makerbot  or fab at home stuff.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/4224759
http://www.makerbot.com/

Absolutely right Sam, just mine is not quite so good. 
Thank you for the kind words.

Purely out of interest :- The technique I am using is slightly different from the makerbot and it is called "Selective Laser Sintering" and more details of the process can be found here  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_laser_sintering
The big boys have excellent results with this method but hey I have only just started out so I am excused from making anything too good. 

Tweakie.

Hi Tweakie

You do realsie that suger is a dust explosive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQZGWjVwN58

Have fun

Brian

You certainly know how to boost a guy's confidence Brian.  

Tweakie.

You certainly know how to boost a guy's confidence Brian. 

Tweakie.

Your welcome

By the way great project

HAHAHAHA!! Lets hope that number remains a zero, Tweakie.